Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino - John Cena

Episode Date: March 24, 2023

Santino sits down in the Melbourne studio with the powerful John Cena! Don't worry you can see him! They discuss, hip hop, some WWE stories, life, and so much more! #johncena #andrewsantino #whiskeyginger #podcast ============================================= SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUNDAY Get 20% OFF YOUR ORDER! https://getsunday.com/whiskey HELLO FRESH Get 60% OFF PLUS FREE SHIPPING! https://hellofresh.com/whiskey60 AURA Protect your identity Get your 14 FREE TRIAL! https://aura.com/whiskey GAMETIME Download the App Use PROMO CODE: WHISKEY ======================== Follow Andrew Santino: https://www.instagram.com/cheetosantino/ https://twitter.com/CheetoSantino Follow Whiskey Ginger: https://www.instagram.com/whiskeygingerpodcast/ https://twitter.com/whiskeyginger_ Produced and edited by Joe Faria IG: @itsjoefaria Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What up, Whiskey Ginger fans? Welcome back to the show. If it's your first time joining the show, welcome to the show. We got a good one for you today, like my man Steve Harvey done say. It's John Cena. Oh, baby! It's John Cena. I'm so excited to have him on the pod. Became a good buddy, worked together, and I'm so happy to have him on the show and share a little piece of him with you guys. It was wonderful. And, hey, me and Bob are on tour.

I'm not touring for a little while on my own, but me and Bobby are doing the Bad Friends tour. We're doing standup, podcast, bits from the show and all sorts of stuff. Go to badfriendspod.com, badfriendspod.com. We've added shows, added cities, and we're going for a couple of months. We're on a bus coming to a city near you.

So go to badfriendspod.com. Come see us live, baby. Enough rambling from me. Let's go to the episode. In here, we pour whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse.

Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent. Ginger. I like gingers. Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome back to Whiskey Ginger. My guest today is one of my favorite people on earth. I say that for all my guests, but I mean it once again today. This time, you can see him. It's John Cena, ladies and gentlemen. John Cena, cheers to you. You beautiful prince.

Thank you so much for doing it. Thank you for dressing up too. You look so good. We committed to this and we're getting it done. We're doing it. Have a little sniff. So what do you make of this? We're not going to say what it is.

How do I make it? What do you make of this? Oh, like what are the notes that I taste? So I'm a novice when it comes to the bourbon. Yeah. I do like a scotch, but I tend to like the stronger smelling, peatier scotches just because I can smell my drink

coming from 20 yards away. You like that. What do you make of this? Honestly, it just reminds me of childhood. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. I can smell dad coming from the hallway.

Whatever. Whatever that. Nothing better be untucked. You better tuck it in. What I love about Kentucky bourbon is slow warmth stays in the back of your throat. Dude, it gets you. I like it back here. It gets you.

And then slowly but surely kind of takes over your body. Yeah. And just gives you this nice little hum. At the end of this thing, I'll be up. No, no, you'll be good. We can have as much as you want and as little as you want. Go ahead, man. First of all, I want to thank you for doing the show.

For people that want to know, we're down in Melbourne, which I have to say, they make us say that that way. Melbourne. You can't say Melbourne. You can. Yeah, they don't like it. They scoff at me. They don't like it, but you can. You can say it. I said that to my driver. I was like, oh, I'm in Melbourne. My first time in Melbourne. And he's like, it's Melbourne, mate. Yeah. No,

it's not, because it's spelled Melbourne. So I'm going to say it my way. Well, I grew up in New England. Right. Or I would be from like Worcester.cester worcester none of it makes sense i like worcester like they have a cheltenham but it's cheltenham change the words dude you're not owned by the queen anymore john and i know each other because we're shooting a movie in australia hopefully people will love it it's called r Ricky's to Nicky. That much you can know. Everyone else at home, you'll have to watch the movie when it comes out.

You and I connected over the course of this film, and I got to tell you, quick friends. Best friends, some would say. Best friends. Can I say it? Some would say that. Are you my best friend? My wife's the tip of that spear. What can she do that I can't do, John?

What can your wife do that Andrew Santino can't do for you? Well, I think that list is long and distinguished. Okay, well, email me, dude. No, we got very close very fast on the film. That's absolutely true. We shared a lot of things in common. So many things I want to chat with you about. One of them being the way that I clicked with you the first time we shared a lot of things in common. So many things I want to chat with you about. One of them being the way that I clicked with you

the first time we had a couple of drinks. There was old school hip hop playing. Yes. And I said, man, I love this song. And then, like a loser, I said, remember that lyric about a rapper hooking up with his fans? And I'm not going to say it because this is a family-friendly show.

And immediately I said... Is it? Yeah, it is. Okay, cool. Yeah, this show was for the kids. I'll be on my best behavior. But immediately I said... Wait till you're 21.

Yeah, I said, who is... I said, I think that's the game. And you corrected me. You said, no, no, no no my friend that's good who was it not the game it was lloyd banks i was like is that lloyd banks and you were like that's lloyd banks but you threw it out so fast yeah but it also wasn't like uh condescending i was oh no my guess into that you were correct no you wasn't a guest that was a you knew you pulled it out like this didn't you literally were you were you were hand on No, it wasn't a guess. That was a, you knew. You pulled it out like this.

I didn't. You literally were, you were hand on the Guinness and you just went, it's Lloyd Banks. You threw it so beautifully. And I go, is that Lloyd Banks? And it was. It was. And then I thought, do you love hip hop? And I know you have an album, a platinum album.

Not like, your knowledge runs so deep. No, it's different. My knowledge of hip-hop isn't as extensive as some of the nerds that get at me on the internet. But what I loved is... There's always somebody smarter. Way smarter. There's always somebody more informed. You're well-versed in new things.

In what I know, what I like, it's good. And we connected so hard because age-wise, we're close in age. Yeah. And we grew up with the same kind of hip-hop and we were going back and forth about our favorite stuff and then guiltily I listened to your album again that night I never told you and I thought when am I gonna tell him and I thought well if he comes on the show I'll tell him so I fell asleep to John Cena that night drunk off a six Guinness's which Which by the way, people are like,

oh you're drunk off of six Guinnesses? Yeah, we drank them in 36 minutes. We were getting kicked out. How do you do it? I know, because we were learning to get the, the Irish will tell you, you have to drink the Guinness until it gets right below the N and above the harp. And I came close. You drank too much because your gullet is bigger than mine. Yeah, you do. You love it. But I realized what better time to talk to you about your album than on the show. You know what? It's not awkward.

It's awesome. What do you mean? Thank you. Thank you very much. Also, you made a platinum album. I don't think anybody's ever made it. I think we had one of my guys look it up. No one's ever made a platinum album as their first album

and then never made another album ever again. It's never happened. This guy. Dude, it's never happened. Yeah, but I mean, what? No, no, don't do that, John. Don't throw it away. That's incredible.

Nobody's ever done that. So, first of all, thank you. But, I mean, I think it's going to be like the 20th anniversary very soon of that album. So that is a wonderful chapter in my life. But I mean, we're in the now. But for the 20th anniversary, because you're a hip hop head, will you do a live performance of the album?

Man. For me. I'm sick, John. I'm not going to make it. Maybe just for you. In 2026, I'll leave this earth. So will you do it for me going to make it. Maybe just for you. In 2026, I'll leave this earth. So will you do it for me for the 20th? Maybe just for you.

A private party for me. Yeah, just a party of one. I'll fly in the trademark. You're a giving guy. Him and I can just... Can knock it out? Yeah. You are a giving man, and I want to give you some credit.

I don't know if we can talk about it for the movie, but... Let's talk. Okay, let's talk. Well, no, in the movie, there's a scene that is relative to your real life. I want to talk so many other things, but I want to give you credit. This is what it's for. You have gone to 8 billion children's hospitals, and we did it in the film. You went for the film.

And you've done, like, what, truly, 700 or 800? How many have you done? How many times you gone to the Children's Hospital? As many I've had, well, it's a little bit different than that. I've been fortunate enough to tour many hospitals, but a hospital tour is a lot different than what I do for Make-A-Wish. Yeah, Make-A-Wish, that's what it is. Make-A-Wish is a wonderful charity which gives children and families facing some difficult set of circumstances the chance to do whatever they wish for yeah and a lot of those wishes i can't believe this we're

like i want to hang out with john cena for the day so i've had a this is a make-a-wish by the way wonderful opportunity to be a part a lot of that um i don't believe you this feels like a make-a-wish a little bit to me it does but these kids but these kids say i want to hang out with you for the day yeah what's the wildest make-a-wish story that you did like if a kid was like i want to sometimes just hang with john cena is there ever one that's like i want to go fishing with john cena uh well i had tea with a with a young lady i had a tea with a we're. No, it was just like an imaginary tea. Oh, no tea was there. A small table.

She was very well-dressed. She brought her stuffed animal friends. We set the whole table, and we had tea, and we spoke. Wow. It was great. And the tea was good. It was great. Yeah, the conversation.

It was great. Conversation was great. Imaginary crumpets, fantastic. That's one thing I don't like about Australia. I'm going to say it again. I keep dogging them every time we do a show here. It was great. Conversation was great. Imaginary Crumpets, fantastic. That's one thing I don't like about Australia. I'm going to say it again. I keep dogging them every time we do a show here. Afternoon tea. It's food.

It's not tea. It's a snack. Yeah, but I think there's a whole culture around it. I don't like it. I don't like it. The Queen doesn't like you guys. They got rid of you guys. Kind of a cool yin and yang forming here.

Yeah. You're forever the nihilist. 100%. Man, but you know, it's not that bad. And you're like, no, fuck that. This is half empty.

I don't know. Yeah, see, John, that has been our relationship on the movie, which also has made the film very good that you are, I've never seen somebody compliment coming in.

I've never seen somebody work so hard and still have such a positive attitude regardless of the length of the day, because you know, old red bones over here, when it's a long day, I get all grumpy bumpy. We all do. Yeah. But you're good at hiding it wherever it goes. I just think at those, at those times when I'm about to lose it, I tell, first of all, I tell myself I signed up for it. Yeah, you did. My choice. You did. And, uh, I tell, first of all, I tell myself I signed up for it.

Yeah, you did. My choice. You did. And something that helps me a lot is what is my biggest problem right now? So in the totality of that, the movie that they've asked me to star in is asking me to work longer. Yeah. So what? It happens. And that's not saying that those days, the long days aren't hard.

That's not saying it's not work. We go back and forth on text about like what a life it is incredible it's genuine that is not um cannon fodder that is not a hashtag it's genuine this this is unimaginable but it doesn't mean it doesn't come with effort it doesn't mean doesn't come with hardship and everyone can compare stories and compare hardships there's always someone smarter there's always someone who has it. There's always someone who has it worse. There's always someone who has it better, but it doesn't mean you're, we are all human. We all have the same emotions. We all have the same situations. We have to climb a hill and we feel anger. We feel sadness. We feel depression. We

feel joy. We feel happiness, all that stuff. So the days where you, where I'm not feeling so good, I just, I try to, to write the train by being like, Hey man, this is not too bad. I know you're right. I should get a scene, a tattoo. So I can look down at your face, like on my wrist. Every time I'm starting to blow up every time I'm starting to go, Ooh, man, I don't like the day. I'll just look down and see your face and you'll be going like this to me. Come on. I think with you and from what I've seen, my perspective is you're a million places at once. You're, you're a very hard worker and you're trying to do a whole lot of things.

You have two podcasts. Yeah. You're a touring comic. Yeah. You're always planning for your next special. You are a full-time actor and you're trying to extend your reach. You have brand ambitions. Yeah. So, actor and you're trying to extend your reach, you have brand ambitions. So literally you're operating like five, six startups essentially at a time.

That's a lot of fucking work. It's a lot of work. Yeah. I, on the other hand, have really scaled back and to try to focus on like, well, this is Monday. This is Monday. That's it. That's a really good perspective.

And I think a lot of times when I get frustrated or when I used to get frustrated about that, it's because, man, we are waiting here and I could use these 16 fucking minutes to do something else. Yeah. And it is when you're splitting atoms and you're trying to have a relationship

or have some sense of normalcy. And on top of that, well, I'm trying to get this brand off the ground and I'm trying to do this podcast and I need to do the other one. I on top of that, well, I'm trying to get this brand off the ground and I'm trying to do this podcast and I need to do the other one. I'm trying to learn my lines and I'm trying to do this and I'm in a foreign country and I don't know what the fuck's going on. That stuff can snowball because you know how valuable the minutes are. Yeah, big time.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, big time. Well, and I do get moments that kick me back into reality. I try to stay grounded a little bit in the idea of, hey, man, it sucks only because I want it. So if I didn't want it, it wouldn't suck. I want it. So I invite it.

I like it. But then there's the moments that check me down like, you know, standing in the rain talking about cars with you because we had to wait till the rain to stop. How cool was that? Yeah, it was phenomenal. There's a moment where you sit and you go, oh, yeah, this is great. We get to talk about cars in the rain. And, yeah, those things bring you back. Yeah, no, that is the best part about all of it.

And when you said, I want to back you up real quick. When you said you were starring in the movie, I am the star of the film. You are. It's me. You are. I know they're telling you, well, they're telling you, hey, John, you're number one. This is your movie. It's my movie.

No, perception is reality. I'm always number two. It's my movie. No, perception is reality. I'm always number two. That's right. Always. Don't forget it. I've got to tell you. Because when I saw your trailer, I go, double that. So that's why I have a double-decker trailer.

If you see a double-decker trailer somewhere around town, that's old Papa Red. They actually shipped over a bus and gutted it. Yeah, for me. And turned it into a living quarter. I gets what I needs, baby. It was interesting that you, that into a living quarter. I guess what I need's baby. It was interesting that you, that was a weird flex. Power move. It's all the money I made on the film is going to my bus, but you know what? I don't really care. It looks great. I don't really care. In fact,

if I ever did get to a place where, because you and I both love cars and we talk cars, if I ever did get to a place where I was successful enough, I think I would be one of those people that has my own bus that travels with me in the States. one of those people that has my own bus that travels with me in the States. You know, people that bring their own trailers with them. Yeah, man.

I, uh, the last, like the last 10 years of my career in WWE, I always had a tour bus, but it was your specific or was, did you, you had different ones?

No, I, I, I would lease it, but I would long lease it. I went through two in 10 years. We had one for five years and another one for five years. Yeah.

Did you do something special on the inside to it or no? You didn't deck it out and make it look like home? God rest his soul. My driver and ship's captain, Ronnie Bullington, I always would have him like, hey, man, do whatever you want. I want you comfortable in there. That means I'm going to get there safe. And he designed both of them.

He did? Yeah. RIP Ronnie? RIP Ronnie. Oh, man. Cheers to the Ron dog. Cheers. You know he's up there. A true ship's captain. Ronnie? R.I.P. Ronnie. Oh, man. Cheers to the Ron dog. Cheers. You know he's up there.

A true ship's captain. A true ship's captain. Did he ever crash? Never? Hell no. Mm. I hear those horror stories about bus tours where they, like, you know, they get drowsed, they fall asleep, they hit stuff, they get in a ditch.

Ronnie was flawless. Was the best. A flawless man. Like a mentor to all the drivers. I remember we had a, one of my favorite quick stories about him is we had an absolute whitewash in New York City. We were doing Madison Square Garden. It was a Sunday in late December with Monday Night Raw in Albany, New York. It's a bit of a drive.

Yeah, I've done it. A whitewash to where when the doors opened at MSG, it was six o'clock, and they were kind of bordering state of emergency. Yeah. By the first match, full state of emergency. So we had sold out the place, but only like 5,000 people showed up. So by the time we got done at midnight,

it was the streets of New York City were barren. The snow was like waist high. And he's like, man, I'm going for it. We got to get to Albany. We got to do it. So many of the performers didn't make the show. I remember Ronnie pitching the bus sideways, like Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift,

like pitching the bus. How about family? Hold on! And he would pitch a 48 foot tour bus sideways across the streets of New York. We literally were just, all we had to do was keep moving forward because if we stopped. Yeah, you're done.

You're fucked. Saw buses on the side, New York City buses that couldn't make it. But he got us to Albany in 10 and a half hours. What? Ron Dogg. He got us to Albany in 10 and a half hours and pulled in, slid the bus out, dropped the anchor and was like, I'm going to sleep. See you guys.

Damn, dude. Made it, we're good. How many other performers made it with you, though? How many other guys made it up to Albany? On that bus ride, I had one of the riders and two other performers. That's heck. Because everybody was like, we're just going to hang.

And the snowfall was so great that it was really treacherous to get there the next day. We ran like a skeleton crew the next day because it was so bad. It was tough. Before we get too far away from it, because I want to, just give me one quick story that you and I spoke about. Because when we talked hip-hop, the reason that I brought it up was you told me on set about how it came to fruition that you made the album.

Well, not only made the album, like why I'm here. Why it started, yeah. Yeah, why the whole thing started. You know, originally, very long story condensed. Originally, I started to wrestle by mistake. I was going to join the Marine Corps, and a friend of mine was like, hey, man, we're training down in Orange County.

You should give it a weekend before you go down there. I was like, yeah, whatever, I'll do it. Saw a ring, and I was hooked. No aspirations of doing anything, but it happened to me in the height of the market and competition and they were signing people defensively. I got a really low money contract to just sit at home and not go to the other guys. Nice. And then finally ended up just hanging around to get an opportunity. Debuted on TV in Chicago, 2002, in June. Bless. Yeah.

At the United Center? Where was it? We always were in Rosemont. Rosemont Horizon, baby. One of my favorite buildings. Oh, so great. Favorite, favorite. That's great.

That place gets very, very loud. Yeah. There's a lot of tradition in that building for me. Big time. Yeah. So debuted in Chicago. Debuted in Chicago and totally shit the bed

how what do you mean well did all the stuff right but had no had nothing had nothing here people didn't know who I was they couldn't connect to John Cena coming out in different tights and boots

every time and I'm here like I had no things were good but no one could attach to who I am all right when we were as entertainers you got to kind of want to attach like when we film a movie you try to work on your character so people will relate to them attach to them or detach to them or root for them or root against them right it's what we're doing I am willing to bet that it's a similar perspective and trajectory in stand-up. Same thing. You want people to like and identify with your style or be adversarial to it and call you out to drum up a little bit more awareness.

So I was about to get fired because I wasn't doing well. And I was on my final overseas tour in the UK. It was right before Halloween. And they were like, I don't think you're And I was on my final overseas tour in the UK. It was right before Halloween. And they were like, I don't think you're going to make it to Christmas. So whatever. But we'll bring you on this last tour. Give you some more money. WWE was extremely good about that.

Like, hey, we're probably not going to do business. So let's get you on as many shows as we can. But that's so cool. They give you a heads up. Versus other pro sports where a lot of times it's like you wake up to a phone call that's like, you're cut. I just knew I was, the writing was on the wall. And like it wasn't. How do you know that?

Genuinely. Because when you go out there, you use your ears. And when the sound is not just silence, not just apathetic silence. Right. But shoes going up to the concourse to get hot dogs. You hear a guy in the bathroom. Yeah, you know, it's kind of like, eh. So by mistake, I kept to myself.

I didn't want to rock the boat. But like, OK, my time's coming to an end, so I'll enjoy this. On the tour bus overseas, they travel us all together. And some of the guys are freestyle in the back. So I just went in the back and waited for my turn and joined in and just did the best I could. And ripped. Just tried to unleash the did the best I could. And ripped. Just tried to unleash the fury.

Cut it out, you ripped. And the front of the bus was Stephanie McMahon, and she was head of the writing team. McMahon's daughter. Head of the writing team at the time, and she was like, how did you remember all that? And I kind of explained her the concept of freestyle, and she's like, well, make something up about me right now.

Sure enough, on the spot, I spit a few bars, and she's like, do you wanna do that on TV? Yes, please. Yes. And it just so happened to be the Halloween episode of SmackDown. Oh, wow. So the character shift wasn't like, well, why is he doing that? It started as a costume and then just kind of went into that.

Wow. What did you wear when you did it on Halloween? A crazy sequence vanilla ice outfit with a huge vanilla ice wig. They were trying to get me to look cool. I'm like, no, I want to look ridiculous because I want to stand out. Right. And in those early matches,

in the early phase of that, I wore the most ridiculous stuff. I remember getting, I remember seeing a Fat Joe video where he's wearing a North Carolina blue sheepskin suit. I went and got one of those, like crazy hats.

I try to be as over the top as possible so you would realize, sheepskin suit. I went and got one of those, like crazy hats. Like I try to be as over the top as possible so you would realize like, oh, that's the rap guy. Right. And it worked. And sure enough, that was. It worked. God, that's wild. By the way, who was on the bus rapping that was good

and who was trash? Who could rip? Was there anybody that had skills? Well, it was just people having fun. Yeah, but I mean, who was good? Come on, give it to me. I don't think they did it enough. It's a skill.

Like, I'm not good now because I used to do it every day in high school. I used to do it consistently in college. It's like playing golf. I ask you what you hit, and I almost threw up. Because you play all the time. Yeah, I play a lot. You play a lot, so you've honed your craft. Yeah.

Those guys are just having fun. And there was probably a little bit of that involved. Right, right, right. You know, so that really doesn't get you quick on your feet. Got some sauce. You know, and it was an opportunity, and I was prepared. And you hit it out of the park. You know, I held my own.

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Use that code Whiskey60 for 60% off plus free shipping. HelloFresh, America's number one meal kit. Ginger. I like gingers. Tell me this. Give me the world of like, see, comedy, the thing you and I make a lot of parallels. We often do this when we sit and we talk on set, I'll talk often about how wrestling performance and comedy performance. The reason there's a lot of wrestling fans

in the comedy world, a lot of comedy kids, standups, because it's the same kind of like the phrase that you liked that I told you. We say like when you find your voice. You know, we found our voice. When you found your voice, that's what happens to us. We start in these weird kind of realms. And the thing that bonds you the most when you are getting the silence and listening to the shoes go up to get popcorn is other people experience that, but it's that shared eating shit together.

Like it's nice to eat shit with your buddy. And the thing that bonds you then more in our community was always going out, having a couple of drinks, getting a late night meal. Like, would you guys have nights where the shows were tough and you're like, well, we're going out and we're wiping that all away. We're going to get shit faced. That was every night. Every single night. Up until about.

Good or bad. Oh, yeah. Good shows, bad shows. You're partying no matter what. your party no matter what um the great thing about wwe and i think it runs parallel to stand up is when you book a 65 date tour if show four bombs you still gotta make sure five a hundred percent yeah got it it's it's a pick six you gotta get back on the field right so those those nights where you stunk out the joint were like the most productive because you could really lean into the guys and lean into the guys and

lean into the guy you're working with or the people around you who are, you trust and give you an honest opinion to be like, Hey, this is what I was going for and it didn't work. Yeah. Why? Why? And I'm sure you had, you know, mentors in standup comedy who would maybe bestow a few secrets after a few of these. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. And it used to be a little bit more of a fraternal society where you kind of had to go out afterwards to get some wisdom.

Right. Nowadays, the business has evolved and in great ways. I romanticize about that period a lot because it was just super fun. Yeah. But guys are paid better. Guys are treated better. Less of a work schedule. So I don't know how much that still exists.

Today, I just try to pass on wisdom at the show. Because I don't know the life anybody lives. Back then, there was a lot of camaraderie, a lot of brotherhood. And if you weren't in, you were out. When I started, I tried to keep to myself. And in keeping to myself, you were out. Right. You know, like when I started, I tried to keep to myself. And in keeping to myself, I was out. Yeah. You need to be a part of the community.

I really want to do this. He was like, you do want to do this. Man, you're really dedicated. Just come here, kid. Let's have a few and let's talk about why you suck. Who was the most fun to drink with? Everybody. Was there not one where you're like, man, I used to fun to drink with everybody there's were there not one where you're like

man i used to love to drink with um i don't think there's a comparison to rick flair i don't he just has so much energy yeah and such does he woo every time he comes in the room with even when you guys are back like hanging out somewhere it's it's that but it's also he's got he's got such a tremendous lust for life. Yeah. And I am drawn to that. Totally. I'm drawn to people who love life. There is a tipping point where it becomes counterproductive. You don't want to live today as your last day.

Could be. It could be. Could be. But I try to find a little bit of balance. Yeah, you do. A little bit of balance. But man, he was always great. Pat Patterson was always great.

The late Pat Patterson was always great. Because these guys not only are there because they want to socialize and share, they have all this fucking wisdom. And they're not, like Rick especially, and Pat, they weren't jaded. Rick still isn't jaded. Like, you know, we all have bad days, but he loves it.

Yeah. So he's not one of those guys who will drink and be like, fuck this. You don't understand. They fucked me, and this is how they fucked me. Like, I just, whoever that element was, I just never went around. I just always gravitated towards people who were having a good time. Yeah. Well, because that exists in every industry, in our business too.

It's like, because the quicker you can get away from the idea of like, I'll tell you why they did me wrong. I feel like that feeds into the, well, they're going to keep doing you wrong then. Because that's what you almost want. You project it to be. It's not just in entertainment. That's in the corporate world. That's in any area where you can have a group of people in the same

thing, it's, you find that element. Well, because the competition is so real, right? It's so competitive, and you're competing with not just, like, you know, your peers to a degree, but yourself the most. That's why I like golf. That's why I like stand-up. I'm my own competition. When I talk to you on set, when, like, the stuff that I think that I like the most on set is when you talk to me about you working on your own stuff a lot, like you're trying really hard to, you know, I saw you reading a book,

and then you said, I have to play piano certain times a day. I want to keep up with that. I want to exercise my foreign language muscles. And like, you're just working on, you're really kind of beating you so to speak because you the lazy you can win every time every time it's the easiest thing in the world not go to the gym fine easy whatever but like picking up the book doing to making the time for the piano

that's the kind of personality you have that i'm attracted to is like you're trying to beat you or or or beat you know these these little hurdles that we set up for ourselves, which I always think is very impressive. And not to kiss your tush, but what you make me do Monday mornings anyway before we shoot. Call it the Monday. Yeah, it's just tough for me. I'm going to keep doing it, but it really is hard. I'm not going to lie. It's one more week.

One more week. One more week. I'll take care of you tomorrow, but I usually don't. Like Thursday is my last shower. Great. Good. No, good. That's good Like Thursday's my last shower. Great. Good. No, good. That's good.

That's been the, you know, usually Thursday. Yeah. That'll be the last shower. I can taste. Monday. I can taste, bud. Yeah. But I am going to kiss your tush and say you're very, very talented as an actor.

as an actor and truly um i'm happy to watch you to watch you work not knowing you as a person but knowing you from the outside now getting to know you as a human it's nice to see that you take it serious in the sense of like you i can tell you really give a shit a lot which is i think it's hard to find sometimes because a lot of times complacency is easy, especially when you get as famous as you are. You're so fucking famous. It's like, you could be whatever about it. You can kind of be going through the motions. You really, really could. I wouldn't suggest it, but you could, you really could float, you know? But so it's cool to watch you not float and take the time out of the day to do these other things. So it's influential to other people. Like it's,

it gets in my head that like, Oh, I should be taking more time to work on the thing, whatever that thing is. No, but you do a little, um, dude,

you're, you're everywhere. Look at us. We're here. You're working on a Sunday. I know, but I, but,

but like on set in the dead times, I do think managing that time is wise. I'm jerking off of my trailer. John, when you see me leave wise. I'm jerking off on my trailer, John. When you see me leave, I'm literally jerking off on my trailer. Bullshit. Two videos of you. Bullshit. I'm not kidding. You're a loud talker, and you're in the same area.

You hear me. You're booking your tour. You're deciding your merch. You're like, Santino, shut up. Yes. Yeah. Total, I got to call bullshit. Trust me, there are things that I want to get accomplished in a day,

but there's also that point, just like in any I want to get accomplished in a day, but there's also that point, just like in any workout or anything you do that challenges yourself, when you reach the point of diminishing returns. I'll look at a keyboard and I can't play and I can't read, and then I just, okay, I've given it the best I can. I want to just see this thing now. I want to just do nothing. You do the same thing but it's just but it's different i guess i'm jealous i guess this grass is always greener i'm quicker to get on my phone look at something stupid and i think you've disconnected in a good way when we talked about it you were like oh instagram and all that bullshit you've disconnected i mean look at the

way you treat that kind of stuff is impressive you You post shit on Instagram, you follow nobody, and you don't give any context to it. Yeah, because you're like, here, this is kind of what I like, whatever, goodbye. There's no engagement of it. Actually, one could say that. Curated. One could say that, but I think it's an exercise in full engagement

because if you really are following an account to try to get to know someone, you can run down that rabbit hole of what are they thinking? Why what's the nature behind this post? I, I really wanted to try to do something and I was just going to continue to do it pass or fail just to see what was going on. I, I didn't have the extra time. Uh, I, I believe that people have to earn the right to hear your story. So I am just not an advocate of turning the camera around in my own life. Right. I have a wonderful circle of people I love that know damn near everything about me,

and they love me back. And we've earned that respect. You and I are building a wonderful foundation. Yeah. Not the best trend yet, but God damn it, you're a friend. I'm. Yeah. I'm going to stay at your house. I did say that I'm coming and sleeping in your bed. Absolutely. And, um, I don't know. I just, I wanted to create each platform. I kind of use uniquely differently. I use Twitter differently than Facebook. I use Instagram differently than Tik TOK and all four sometimes send a certain message in unison

just because I wanted to try to try to do something different and just because I'm not using something like everyone else yeah I was I've been labeled the most unorthodox performer that means I'm not very athletic when I perform but I didn't I also didn't use the craft of sports entertainment like everyone else I see our I see my, I see my family, I see my home, the 20 years of my career through a different lens. And whenever I talk to people who are really in the pro wrestling, WW rabbit hole, we never see things in the same light.

Like I always see things a little differently. So I just wanted to use it differently and make it like an art gallery. What was this person thinking when they saw this piece? If the artist isn't there next to you and there's no description, you have to think. Yeah, what is it?

You have to look at a... Is it a big code that we're trying to all figure out? Is it like... It's what you make it. Everyone is... There's a meaning behind it. sure to drink your oval team john that was what it was commercial i knew it i knew i figured out when i saw it i thought god damn it that's what it is this is an advertisement for oval team it's one of those things where like they just announced i would return i don't know when you're going to air this

but uh to boston on the 6th of March. I... Which will be out then. I put up the Dropkick Murphys album cover. I put up the final scene from The Departed where the rat goes across the screen. Mm-hmm. I put up the old Boston Garden and I put Fenway Park.

Say no more. But... Yeah. That was all before the announcement. Just a little... So if you're following... You're following, yeah. I'm telling you that, like,

I'm going to be there. Right. But if you're following you're following i'm telling you that like i'm gonna be there right but if you're if you don't know and there are a few people that knew if you you know a lot of people didn't like what what is all this but i i'm those are meaningful posts that are easy to describe to you yeah that people like now i get it there's meaning behind every single post see pay attention kids follow. Follow the man. Boston still has a soft place in your heart? Yeah, absolutely. City's got a ton of character, just like Chicago. You're a mass kid.

Yeah. But how long did you live in New England? I moved to Venice, California in 1999. I lived there for 21 years, 22 years. And then moved back there for like another three. Yeah. When you told me you moved to Venice beach because you wanted to be close to, that was like the Arnold days, right? The close, the falling of the curtain on like the Mecca of bodybuilding. Yeah. Because the digital age. Right. Your phone allowed you to be whoever you want to be, wherever you want to be.

Like it's changed a lot of stuff. But back then you had to be in Venice Beach. If you wanted to do anything fitness related, and my degree was in, you know, Kinesin movement studies. So I wanted to try to get on with a major manufacturer. Venice was a hub where all the equipment was like a, it was like the SEMA show for equipment. If Hammer came out with a new line, they were in Venice. They had a space.

If Cybex came out with a new line, they were in Venice. Life fitness, all that stuff. So their reps would be in and out of there all the time. And I wanted to get a job in the equipment industry, but it just didn't happen. Instead you became famous. What a fucking nightmare, dude. Don't you wish you worked for Cybex now? Just designing machines like you always wanted to? Throw away this acting thing. Fuck off everything you're doing. Get back

there and work for Hammer. Hammer, if you're listening, anybody at the Hammer Life Fitness Company, Cybex, we'll entertain some other shit. I'm your agent. Maybe Peloton. Alternative companies. John is looking for a corporate job. We're going to step him away from what he's the best at and we're going to put him behind a desk and a computer. Send in your resumes.

This is the link right here. It's right on the screen. Something will come up. We'll put a link in there. It's for his email. It's incredible to think that you... I remember moving to california and literally the first thing i did was go play basketball at venice beach because a white man can't jump literally i mean that what my aspiration had nothing to do with it but i was like something you got to do i had to go i like because i know that feeling that you were feeling you're like i have to be near this epicenter of chaos now Now it's heroin needles and fistfights.

It's always been a pretty interesting area. Yeah, it's rough now. It's tough. Did you ever lift at the beach, by the way? Yeah. You were that guy. Yeah. I love that guy.

And then I realized the beach is kind of just a publicly owned, like a state-owned funded gym, and the real gym is Gold's Venice. Gold's Venice, yes. That's a few blocks in. Right. 360 Hampton Street, I believe. I think that's right.

I mean, it's right off of, you know, Hampton Drive. Hampton Drive, is that right? Is it Hampton Drive? Is it? Yeah. I would go to O'Brien's Pub, the bar around the corner. Your destiny was the gym, mine was the Irish Pub,

and how close we were. We were right next to each other and we never really knew it because I was busy getting sauce out of my head. RIP O'Brien's Pub, no longer there, by the way. It's all changed now. But no, it is funny to think that that thing that attracted you led to the other thing, which is what you and I talked about. You have no idea how you stumble into these things, but in a way, without getting too philosophical, it was meant to be. It was meant to be.

It was meant to be. Wasn't it, though? Wasn't it, though? You're supposed to be this because of all that stuff. I don't know. I buy it. I don't know. I buy it. I don't know. What I do know is I knew that like, I knew that I had to dedicate time towards that. And I always, even at a young age, um,

like I used to, we all, you either have a story of I was a bully or I used to be bullied. Some people have both. Yeah. I'm both. Um, I got both. I got bullied for listening to hip-hop music. Growing up in West Newbury, Massachusetts. Wait, what do you mean? No one even... It was jeans and rock and roll and like hairband metal. Right. And in the late 80s, early 90s, I loved hip-hop.

And I would dress like kid and play house party style. Hell yeah. Rayon, polka dots. Hell yeah. Give me some more. Shoes. Give me some more. You name it. Yeah, that's great. crisscross pants on backwards come on hard to pee but super easy to shit yeah yeah way easier to

shit i mean i should do that now i don't know why but you can shit and walk with those yeah it was great uh and i just i i got harassed and and beat up every day no but it would it would be easy to just be like okay i'll dress the way they want. No one will pick on me anymore. I got even more, like I never really used physical violence to be at violence. I just was myself even more. Right.

And I think I've always just had a weird courage to be like, man, I should try this and see where it goes. In here, we pour whiskey. Did you know your personal information is all over the internet? It really is. It's terrible. It's for anybody to be able to find data brokers, scrape public tax records, and sell that information,

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Download the GameTime app and create an account. Use the code WHISKEY for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account and redeem code WHISKEY for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Last minute ticket deals. Lowest price guaranteed. Ginger. I like gingers. You know, I, um... But that's what I mean. That's innate. That's what I'm talking about. That was inside of you whether you knew it or not.

And it was just kind of birthed out of something that you never knew was coming. That's why I kind of believe in that semi-destiny world of, like, you were supposed to keep wearing those clothes. You were supposed to love that shit and kind of go against the grains enough until it finally worked. there's no there was no code there's no there was no you know there's no chart that shows you how that works so so in in your in your uh philosophical thought that you're weaving here i'll follow you down that road yeah so if all this stuff is indeed meant to be then i think the real win and the

real wisdom and the real takeaway comes from being able to reflect on it and be like this is what this taught me and this is what i'll do going forward right so if indeed it's all meant to be uh what a man i lucked out yeah but i But I also think that you're right. A lot of people will get to a certain level and coast. Totally. This shouldn't happen. And this will end. 100% it will end.

There will be a day where nobody gives a shit. That is inevitable. Yeah. Why not, if you love what you do, why not invest all in what you do so you have great clarity? And when you're no longer relevant, it doesn't matter. Like the relevance isn't the yield. It's the work.

It's the do. It's the win. It's like it's the late days. Yeah. Man, that was a, I look back on the effort of Ricky Sinecki. I can't give another ounce. Guy's got it all. Got it all.

And I try to do that with everything I invest in. Totally. You know, I've had to set heavy boundaries for this film. I want to hang out with you guys. But my wife, who's an unbelievable person, I got to fill those buckets too. I'm sure my relationship is stable and we're on a great plane.

So instead of like, hey, the cast is going out, I know you are. It doesn't mean, I feel a different way about it. I invite you every time I'm like, John, please come out with me. Every time I gotta draw the hard line boundaries of like, yo, I need to be with my wife. Do you think it's because she's prettier than me?

Well, I mean, there's a list. You can be honest. The honest is there's a list. But tell me this. Is she prettier than me? Yes, she is. Whatever. Did John Cena ever own a pair of FUBU clothing?

A pair? A piece of FUBU clothing. I sold in FUBU clothing. But did you wear it outside of the ring? Yeah, of course. So FUBU was you. Everything you wear it outside of the ring? Yeah, of course. So FUBU was you. Everything. That wasn't just costume.

That's really you. Everything. You'd wear that to the store. So that's another thing, right? When I decided to like, okay, I have a love for hip hop music. I'm going to get an opportunity to do this. It wasn't like, okay, when you're in the WWE, you're that personality. It was 24-7.

That was you? Yeah. That's so interesting. Yeah, because WWE is one of those last bastions of gray area. If you confuse the audience, they'll see through it, and they don't believe. And this was a facet of my personality. And it was kind of like my comeuppance to those kids used to kick my ass when I was 13. It's like, hey, see, I can do this and people can relate to it. So it felt really good. But you

never saw me from like 03 to 07 where I wasn't like outlandishly dressed, trying to, you know, talk some trash on somebody. Like it was who I was. That was you. That was you living. It was a facet of me. Just like a stand-up personality. Hyperbolized me. Right, right, right. It's difficult in WWE because the more you break away from the story you're trying to tell,

especially now when the audience sees everything, the more difficult it is for them to believe who you are. Sure. But a lot of times you talked about this to me, about how sometimes the guys that take it too much from the stage and their personal life, it goes so far. It goes too far. So you have to be intelligent enough to play this game and do this thing and embody who you are, but not make it so it's detrimental. Because that's the biggest fear right

we all every everyone that likes wrestling knows that and i'll admit i we've talked about this i i don't know a ton about wrestling i that was i'm not a huge i wasn't a massive wrestling fan as a kid i didn't know enough like friends of mine that know everything but the one thing that we all took away now as adults if we look back we see these documentaries and they're like so many of these guys part of their failure or part of their downfall whatever you want to call it was that they couldn't they couldn't set up a couple of boundaries yes stop and break and change and go i have to grow and i can't always do this thing but that's also i mean in in life if you put everything towards one thing, everything else suffers.

Totally. And people talk like work-life balance is a popular term people use. Yeah. It's just balance. Like if you're going to, hey, I'd really like to be a scratch golfer. You're going to have to put a lot of time into that. Yeah, too much. And stuff will suffer because of it.

Yeah. But if you really genuinely want to be a scratch golfer, go for it. I think performers that can't find a place to show the totality of themselves and just get caught up in the character, first of all, they love it. Second of all, they're all in. Third, I don't know if, I think they feel comfortable there and they want to be there for some reason. Just like a guy out on the course

hitting at sunset who wants to be a scratch golfer. Like, man, you should get to the other stuff. But there's a lot of folks who become hyper-focused and we grind towards a goal and sometimes we don't see what we're leaving behind. And life moves fast in the WWE, a lot of shows. So you do get that familiarity of like, I feel more comfortable in this shell that I do as the other guy. Self-admittedly, Flair is one of those guys.

You'd watch the doc on him. He's like, Richard Flair died a long time ago. I'm Ric Flair. But he feels comfort in that. And he feels- He's at home when he does that. Self in that. So it is, To some eyes, it's tragic. To the eyes that count, the person in the fight, living the journey, that's what they want to do. Tell me I'd be remiss for my friend if I didn't ask you about Fallen Angel. Fallen Angel? That's what he said, and you'll know.

fallen angel? That's what he said. And you'll know. So the fallen angel is a performer named Chris Daniels and Chicago guy. Yeah. And was brought out to Los Angeles. And he had the daunting task of taking someone like me who couldn't move and trying to teach them the basics. How to move. Basics of the business. But when you say that, you've said this twice, and I don't like it, because you are wildly athletic, but you always have said to me multiple times,

you're like, well, I don't have, I'm not athletic. But I see the way you are, and you are athletic. Did you just not, you just locked up when it came to that stuff? No, it's not true. We all have, things are proficient. I'll say this, for people, when you are throwing those ping pong balls into my butt, you haven't missed. After we work, John will toss ping pong balls in my anus,

and everybody's laughing, and it's a bit, and look, they're not laughing at me. I think they're laughing with me. I'm part of it. You've never missed. It's a lot of practice. No, but you are athletic. What do you mean?

I think you're very athletic. Thank you. Yeah. I'm just going to take that one. Yeah. I'm trying to be better at that. You have to grade in the field you're in. Yeah.

You could be the fastest kid in your school. You know, run the 100 in 12 seconds. You get in a bigger crowd. Yeah. You go to that event that they have every four years. You get smoked. Right. The WWE is the pinnacle or is supposed to be the pinnacle of all of sports entertainment,

where the best sports entertainers in the world are. I have to grade myself against that. Right. In comparison to what I've seen done and what I know people out there are capable of physically, it's a different world, no contest. And I want to take this time real quick just to call out Sammy Zane, who I've been tagged in, I don't know, once a week in photos. And I'm going to say this right here. Listen up here, Zane dog, whenever you want to step in the ring with me, pal, I've been training with Sina out here in

Australia and I'm ready. And he says, I'm ready. And he's my coach and I'm going to take your ass down. Right, John? That's bullshit. That is, but I have to, I'm trying to work on it. I got to give Sammy his comeuppance. Here's a guy who's been in the business a long time. Yeah. And worked really hard in circuits outside the WWE and made a great name for himself. Then got in WWE in the NXT program and made a great name for himself. And then got into WWE and kind of struggled to connect with the audience.

And everyone now, because he's very popular now, thinks it's like, all right, it clicked. His character went through a major reconstruction just about three years ago. Wild. Maybe even a little bit more than that. Because I see him pop up so much now too. It's taken him three and a half years and now it's all that hard work and I can see it.

I see how hard he works and I see how he's invested in connecting with the audience and it's paid off. Everybody loves him because they know who he is. Good on the Zane dog. We get tagged so much. I think we've communicated

once on the internet. I'm like, I can't stop getting tagged. You should have him on the podcast. Hey man, whenever he wants. You know, I'm down.

You said you'd kick his ass and now you're like, no, whenever you want to come on. He knows that. Can you imagine? He'd fucking rip me in half. You know,

it's so funny though. Have they ever had a jester where they send in a regular guy just to get fucked around in the ring? Have they ever sent in a guy of my size just to get thrown around by you guys? So it's a spectacle. It's entertainment. And reception is a lot of the time reality. So the matches that aren't supposed to mean a lot,

it's like when you have a prize fighter and you know he's something special. He goes through a lot of warm-up matches to get to the main guy. So they have that all the time. And send in me, an untrained idiot, and just fuck me up. No, man. Insurance? Do not try this at home. We are trained professionals.

You do not. Sounds fun. That is organized suicide. That's all that is. It's a poor management choice. That's what that is. I talked to my agent. He's like, ask John to get you in a cage match.

I was like, look, I'll do it, man. I would never in a million years. And for the fact that anybody thinks they could do it is so baffling me. When anybody talks about wrestling, they're always like, whatever, man. It's coordinated, blah, blah, blah. You're like, can you fucking? It's so physical. It's so funny that people think it's like, whatever.

But it's weird. They talk about everything, acting, comedy, all this. It's like, whatever, dude. I'll do it. I'll do it. So I think right there, you as a stand-up knows when someone is apathetic or it's ignorance. Yeah. You know exactly like, oh, you don't know what we do.

When people are like, oh, it's fake. The outcome's predetermined. It's for the entertainment of the audience. Yeah. If it was really, there's real fights you can watch on TV. We want the story. We want the characters. We want the characters. We want to be on the edge of our seat.

Right. And we want the main event, most all the time, to deliver a Super Bowl that's won on the last play. Yeah. To deliver a whole run in the ninth inning. Yeah, 100%. And that's the beauty of what we do. We can let you come in the arena and just escape for three hours.

And we want you to yell until you're hoarse. The audience is the biggest part of the show. There's no other element like that. No other element showcases the people paying to be there. It's like college game days, when they pan the crowd and people are allowed to really emote and do all that stuff.

But it's just a pan shot. And then they really want to be quiet when they're doing stuff at the desk. Yeah. Like, WWE is like, no. Chaos. Crowds have taken over the show. Yeah. Chicago's a great town to take over the show.

Montreal, where they just had a wonderful premium live event where Sami Zayn was competing. They took over the show. There's a lot of these people that are, they get so excited because they're part of the act. Right. So when someone's like, oh, it's just fake. Yeah. You're surprised? Like what? I don't get it. Like, so what, so what else? What else about it don't you like?

Right. And immediately you can see that they just don't have any experience. And it's cool, man. Sometimes stuff isn't for you. It's not your shit. I'm a scotch guy. Yeah. It doesn't mean bourbon sucks. It's just you like scotch.

Right now it's not my jam. It's real to me, damn it. It's real to me, damn it. You can get in there as far as you want to go. That guy, man. The depth of that man crying. You can get in there as far as you want to go. It's real to me, damn it.

I love that guy. I want to kiss him on his fucking forehead. Two instances involving me changing my look one i came back with longer hair and people were like you ruined my childhood and two my hair's thinning i'm 46 yeah so i came back and they're like seeing his hair's thinning what the what the f like yeah because i'm old and that's me but people get so attached to the character they've grown up with for 20 years. Like, I've always, Penthouse has always been a little thin, but I always used to cut it really short. So you really couldn't see that.

And now when I come back, I like having this sort of style because it's versatile for somebody in the makeup chair. Yeah. And they can create whoever they want. And I can walk out as Ricky Stinicki or as whomever they want me to be. And they can create whoever they want, and I can walk out as Ricky Snicky or as whomever they want me to be. So I like doing acting, and having a little bit more on top in certain spots

gets you a little more versatility. A little more versatility, yeah. But it was crazy to see people, like, crushed. Yeah, mad about your hair. Because I'm getting old. There's a blog that's called Mad About Cena's Hair. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if it's like a that's called Mad About Cena's Hair. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if it's like a.org.

Stop at Cena's Hair. Fuck Cena's Hair. I take that not bad. They love you. But that's a testament to like, hey, man, you're ruining the thing that I attached myself to. That's tough. When a band sells out.

Right. You know, like they's, they were, they were my band. My band. I knew them when they played 30 people at the hotel cafe on Cahuenga. We are wanting them to still play 30 people. Yeah. They don't want to play 30 people.

They want to grow and they want to expand. They want other people to fucking do something new. So it's okay for that to happen. So I, I mean, that's why I don't believe in the phrase selling out. I think it's a weird bullshit phrase. It means almost nothing. It's such an innocuous happen. So I mean, that's why I don't believe in the phrase selling out. I think it's a weird bullshit phrase. It means almost nothing.

It's such an innocuous idea of like selling. What do you mean selling out? Like because it's like saying you gave more of you to other people that didn't know you. You're like, what? Isn't that what you wanted? You wanted to enjoy me. Now I want other people to like it the same way you did. I mentioned that hotel cafe thing that I just said, because I had this conversation with somebody, the band,

The National, I went to go see at the hotel cafe years ago. And my wife and I followed. I mean, we would literally go to see them as they got in bigger venues. We saw them at the Wiltern on Western. Then we saw them open for REM. You know, they went from a little baby thing to, and we saw them open for REM you know they went from a little baby thing to and we saw them open for REM at the Hollywood Bowl and she won't like me saying this but man does she hate REM so much that we paid all this money for these tickets we saw the opening band we saw the national as the sun was setting was hot they had bad sound because you know they don't ever give them the best shit and the best lighting and the sun dipped behind the bowl. And then the headlining band was to start. Here comes REM. And she literally goes, do you want to go bowling? And I was like, do you want to want to see one song? And she was like,

no, I don't like REM. So we fucked off. So we fucked off. That's how much we liked them. So shout out to those guys. But that was what I meant was, yeah, I want it. And then the next year they headlined Hollywood Bowl. But it's like, you want them meant was yeah I want and then the next year they headlined Hollywood Ball but it's like you want them to play the biggest crowds because then the most people get to enjoy it the way you liked it we always have this I it's my thing Cena's my guy I you're me it's like now you're from more than just one person uh can't be I I hear you but I also get the other perspective and I also get an artist on, I would like to keep my footprint small. Good luck.

Well, good luck if your end goal is commerce and trying to make it pay the bills. It's a tough hill to climb, but keeping your circle small, you're going to have to make a lot of sacrifices. But on the other end, the larger you become, you have to branch out, you have to grow. And there are growing pains that comes with that. A lot of it could be, hey, the people who got me to the dance have now turned their nose up.

But that's my thing is the goal of a performer, whether you're an artist, you make physical art, you make music, you do stand-up, you make film. Whatever the artist's goal is, is to get their art to as many people as possible. I would disagree. You don't think that's what it is? I want everyone to see me. That's you. It's okay for some artists to be like, this is only for a select group. Sure.

But then when you put yourself in a public sphere, then you're saying, I want as many people to see this. When you start going, put this in the gallery, put this on TV, put this on Netflix. Well, then your goal is, I want people to view. I don't want just a certain amount of people to see it. It's fair. I want to see how many people can see it. So I know what you mean. If you're just making art for you and for something small, fine. But when you go public with it well then you've

already sold out so to speak because the idea is you're trying to grow you want to grow yes so if you make art at your house you know and you just love making macaroni art great i love the choice i love i love the wheel i make macaroni art at the house and i'm not selling everyone's emailed me i'm not fucking selling dude i know you. And I'm not selling. Everyone's emailed me. I'm not fucking selling, dude. I know you've seen it. I'm not selling. But the idea is if you make something small and sweet for you or for your tight little group.

It's beautiful, though. You have a rigatoni T-Rex. I love what you did with the art. Do you want the rigatoni T-Rex? You sell one to me. Can I give you the Fusili Stegosaurus? I fucking stumbled. And I almost had the joke.

Can we take it again? No, not a chance. Can I give you the Fusili Stegosaurus? No, not again. You know how hard it is to say Fusili Stegosaurus? Hey, you... Fusili Stegosaurus. Fusili Stegosaurus.

Could have gone with, like, penne pterodactyl, but it just didn't have the same hum for some reason to it. All right. But I know what you mean, but yes, I understand. I think, but when you start making art and you deliver it to the masses, you can't go, I only want certain masses to like it. It's like, get out of here.

That's crazy talk. You can kind of do whatever you want. You can, but don't be surprised when people like it. Or don't. No, that's fine. But I'm saying don't be angry when more people enjoy the shit. But also on another plane, consumers essentially, On another plane, consumers, essentially, people paying their money to comment on what you do, have a right to say whatever.

Totally. Yeah. No, that's not. I'm just saying, I think, if you want it in the public eye, a lot of people, if it grows on its own, it's a chia pet, dude. You can buy, I have a Bob Rossoss chia pet we have never watered it so he's not grown his hair it's more of a john cena chip it's more of a john cena yeah let me you're just you're just talking to a guy who spent most of his uh time in live performance where half of the crowd hates you and half of the crowd likes you.

That's the same with us. Yes. But my point is you want people to see you. You wouldn't be on TV. You can't run a film. I kind of don't want people to see me. Okay, well then you're on the wrong biz, dog. You can't see me. I see you right here.

I had to get it in one. I know you did. You had to. I hear you. I'm just saying it's art. It's opinionative. It's a lot more complex. There's no right or wrong.

It's all a woozy-wazzy. And going back to what we talked about, I think that's why if you care about what you do, if you can look back at your work and be like, couldn't have gave another ounce, regardless of what, if they think you sold out, if they think you didn't sell out, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. No, it matters if you enjoy it. That's what we're on the same page in that.

I just think, and if you really don't want people to see it, then John Baldessari it and fucking burn it. I don't know if you know that. He already burnt all of his shit. I think that's wild. That was cool. I don't have the balls to do that, to just be like, burn it, fuck it.

I mean, that's the kind of art where you're like, man, that was for him. That dude, that was for him. He was like, see all my art? And his agents are like, can we sell it? And he's like, and lit it all on fire. Crazy move. Like your car collection, you told me you were going to light it on fire soon. I did not say that.

You did. You said to me, you said, I think I'm going to torch the whole garage. You are drastically raising my insurance rates. It's a joke. You get a call from your agent like, John, are you really thinking about... I did not say that. I'll look at all the cameras.

I just want to match what you have now just because I wanted a little bit more. It's fair. Can we talk cars for a minute? We sure can. Because I know you're a big car guy. You're way more than I am. I like cars. Not true at all.

No, but you're able to afford the ones that I want. You are too. You've got some great toys. You have some delicious toys. We had a moment where we connected. Cars don't need to be about a big spend. I sent you a picture of a car today. It was 15 grand.

Such a cool car. And it was a Robins Egg Blue, 22 Triumph GT6, upgraded rally wheels, took the bumper hinges off. The thing looked really slick. It looked like an old Datsun 240Z. Stunning.

But it's all British inside. So it's just a really, really fun drive. The car's a little small. And when I got in, the suspension would just go to the side. What a fun drive that was. And even in the current economy with inflation the way it is, that car is 15K. That's wild. And it's a wonderful ride. You get to rip through the gears. It's got a great sounding exhaust. So it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for status or if you're chasing that

hyper car dragon, the investment's going to be huge. Or if you're looking for status or if you're chasing that hyper car dragon, the investment's going to be huge. Or if you're looking for like fully restored show winning example, the investment's going to be big. Huge. Yeah, that is. It's different than just to collect. And you got to know your why. I love curb appeal. You do.

And I love like the awkwardness of like, wow, they actually made this. Somebody was like, go ahead, send them off the line. I really enjoy that. And that doesn't need to come at a bank breaking spend no but the one that we both talked about in the rain that i said when you said to me uh you know because i i said i have an affinity for i love that horse and i was like you know you're a bull guy. And I... We can, with the people listening, he had an experience with a Ferrari 488. Yeah, I love the Pista, yeah. And I said, I've always been, you know, as a kid of the late 80s and the 90s, everybody's poster car was a Lamborghini because the doors went up.

Yeah. So I've always been like, whoa, these are so cool. And that's where my heart has kind of been. And I have a joke about it in my special about why guys buy cars. There's a relative social joke about men who drive big trucks have small dicks, and the truth really is it's men buy cars that they— I love that bit. Thank you.

Truck! I can buy? I can buy a truck. I can do this. That's what it is. I can do this. When we were kids, because you said to me, you said, what was the car when you were a kid that you were like, whoa? And I said, Lamborghini Countach.

The Countach was the car where I was like, I can't believe this is a real car people can buy and drive. I remember them doing the gimmick in Cannonball Run 2 where they changed the colors. Oh, come on, dude. Sprayed off the blue and into the red. It's so fucking cool. And it makes you go, this is a car that a human's allowed to have? Yeah.

It just, it does a thing to you. And that's why guys who do like cars, you go, when you're a kid, you see those. In my parents' bedroom, I had a, in my, we had a photography class in high school. And one of the assignments was to go take pictures of inanimate objects that you have

some sort of connection to. And I just started taking pictures of cars cause I was like, I just really want to take photos of all cars. And I framed, and we talked about the, you know, we talked about the E3, the, the BMW M3. And I said, something about that generation of, of them was so I, I was like beyond a dream car. It was like, I will never own something like that.

When I was a kid, I thought that. But I thought, that has got to be the coolest feeling in the world. But then again, to say, like, as a kid, I thought any of this would happen is balderdash. Yes, absurd. It's absurd. It's absurd. And I like archaic stuff, but it's also really unreliable.

My daily driver is a Civic Type R. Shut up. It's got tech. It's manual. Shut up. The car is stable at 100. That's every day. That's what I can catch you in.

It's a 2020, and it's got a third pedal. My dog. And at 145, it's stable. Like, it goes. It's got seats in the back. I can actually pick people up. Yeah. You know, if you have a purse and a Countach, you're screwed.

That's why I can't have one. They're a little bit rough around the edges. The clutch is a dogfight, and it's really tough to get those things running right. Like, they're always in the shop. It's always leaking some sort of fluid somewhere. Yeah, same. So if I actually need to drive a car on a distance that's more than, like, 10 miles, it's the Civic. How long did you own a Countach for?

I still have it. You stillach for? I still have it. You still got it? I still have it. You son of a bitch. Well, it's one of those things where... Can I drive it when I come to your house? Say yes? It's just a tough drive.

Can I drive it, say yes? I can't say yes. Can I drive it, say yes? Can't say yes. Don, say yes? If you've never had an experience with that clutch... It's the only thing I'm asking of you, John. I don't want mine to be the first one.

All right. Those who know what I'm talking about, it really is like nothing you've ever driven before in a difficult way. The maneuver to reverse is when you sit outside and reverse. You can't see. No cameras back in the day.

So it looked awesome. Yeah. Completely impractical. Not a chance you're going to back in the day. So it looked awesome. Yeah. Completely impractical. Not a chance you're going to parallel park the thing. Like, it's not... Trying to... Like, the Hollywood Hills and that thing would be a disaster. Forget about it. You really have to, like...

I really have to, like, get in there. You know, my wife would be right in there. What's wrong with you? Like, this is how I have to make the car go. Or on the other... The Civic is bam bam bam bam like it's nothing it's an it's a fun easy drive what i just heard you say was i have weak legs that's exactly that john it's an upper body business all right uh quickly for fun i have two

things sure i know you gotta go well i have things um oh you do yeah this fly by the way hilarious i think that fly's been around the whole time it's like comical it's almost like these guys you know and you know jam dog big jay dog he put that fly in here that's his fly that's mark that's his buddy mark that's it's where his um here with us tell me this is if this is a lie or not you like anime so i like certain anime fist of the north star uh i i was really drawn to like post-apocalyptic stuff yeah and i found that at the right time and i thought it was like super cool so i used to love growing up i used to watch fist of the north star a lot okay plead the fifth on this whether you want to or not overwatch porn do i overwatch porn overwatch the anime overwatch it's a kind it's a they make overwatch porn you never seen it no boy oh boy do you need to check it out okay

all right i'm an adult you know i can you like anime buddy i'm an adult it stumbled on my feet somehow some way. Because I think I probably clicked on one of those Peter Griffin fucking Lois things, you know, where they make a porn out of a modern cartoon on a porn site. And I'm like, I'm going to watch it. This is a classic story of me finding anime in the mid-80s. And then kind of like, that's my time. Fast forwarding to what anime is now. New age, baby.

And like what? What happened? Your computer's in your hand? No! Yeah. Okay. And then also, when we talk on set about your schedule and your regimen,

and even Zach said this, he was like, I feel like he's got the sneakiest times to train because we're shooting all day when are you finding time are you first thing in the morning see that's another thing

like there's only so much that can be done and a lot of times if we fragment ourselves none of the work is good. None of it. I'll have a shitty workout. Right. Show up grumpy.

I'll be shitty in front of camera. On the days we shoot, they are paying me for the work to be here for this. So what I can do while I don't train is make good food choices. So I'm not having Betty's burgers. Had it today. It was really't train is make good food choices. I'm not having Betty's Burgers. I had it today. It was really good. Is it good?

Yes. It's a good smash burger place. It's a good plug. It's the best I've had out here. I was going to say, I haven't found a good burger yet out here. It's good. All right. It's good. You know what's really good down here?

Mexican food. No, I'm kidding. They literally don't. They have no idea how to do it down here. They have no spice. Dude, they don't. No hot sauce. They don't even know what hot sauce is down here.

These people are insane. They don't know hot sauce. Me coming from Southern California, don't. No hot sauce. They don't even know what hot sauce is down here. These people are insane. They don't know hot sauce. Me coming from Southern California, all I want is hot sauce. And they call ketchup tomato paste. What do you call it? Tomato sauce? Dude, no, it's not. Tomato sauce is tomato sauce.

Tomato sauce, tomato sauce. Ketchup. But it is kind of tomato sauce. Yeah, but there's more to it than that. Well, what do you call a can of tomato sauce? Tomato sauce. Yeah, see? These guys double down on all sorts of dumb shit.

They don't get it. They call French press coffee plunger coffee. Plunger. No, it's not. Plunger gets poop out of a toilet. What gets poop out of the toilet? What's that thing? It's a plunger. Cut it out. Pick a name. See what I mean? Pick a fucking name. Pick a lane. No, I'm going to fight jam after this. Sorry. Son of a bitch. Yeah, you're right.

You do have a, yeah. I only train when I have time. I had time this morning. You did today. We had an early day on one of the days where, like, I was fading fast. And again, I speak to the wife, like, hey, psychologically, I really could use 40 minutes. Is that okay? She's like, yeah, are you kidding me? Go. But I want to try to be a good husband. I want to try to be a good partner.

So I want to also run those choices by her. When I'm here, it's the work. And all other things suffer. My training suffers. My relationship has to take a backseat. And my wife is unbelievably supportive of that. But I draw those hard line boundaries to play catch up a little bit, to play catch up a little bit.

And it's the really long shoots where it starts to get in the hole. And you've got to dig yourself out. And I don't sneak away to train. I don't have a gym on set you don't have bands in the trailer no not at all I have bands in my trailer and look at me so I need to do what you're doing okay uh how long have how long have you been like physically lifting weights well I have those bands in the trailer and I read the booklet on how to use them. So I tie one around my neck, and it goes up on a pole, right? And I'm naked.

You might have read another book for that. That's not what those bands are? They might be. Okay. I don't know which ones you got. No, I just think it's impressive that you... I think it's impressive that you... I don't know how to say it,

dude. Your arms. This is, you know what it is? You know what it is, John? You're, you fucker.

You know what you are? You're, um, you're Joe from Family Guy in the jacked cop in the wheelchair. You're in real life. When I see your arms, when we're in the car together, I,

I'm like, fucking, this guy's so strong man person I started working out when I was 12 I've never stopped never never so 34 years straight Jesus what I went to school for I know I have a four-year degree in working out and I have good people around me to to kind of curate the experience of like, hey, make a few more good choices. Do this, don't do this, do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did someone say the big show said you had some of the best strength he's ever seen? Well, a lot of the times, WWE, what I didn't offer in smoothness, I could make up for in

explosive strength. Right. I felt I was pretty proficient in that. Those are things that I'm good at. Like moving in an explosive direction. So all of my stuff is like really explosive. Yeah. That's where... You could have been a linebacker.

I was an offensive lineman because I had no awareness for the game of football. But you could have been a linebacker. Yeah. No. They tried. Man! Can you just hit the guy in the other jersey when this thing happens? What guy? But you could have been a linebacker. Yeah. No. They tried. Man. Can you just hit the guy in the other jersey when this thing happens? What guy?

Can you do that? Yeah. I can do that. Didn't work. Yeah. I didn't have the overall awareness of the game. Will you do me one favor when you come to L.A.? When you come back to L.A. and I'm there and you're not working, will you come play one round of golf with me?

Oh, gosh. Come on, please. Just you and me. I just want to see it. That I don't mind. But it's just so much time. No, no, no. We play fucking four holes.

Do you want to know why all these things get done? Like how you can look and be like, what the fuck is he doing that I'm not? Yeah. I know that golf takes five hours and I don't have the five hours. Four. I'm talking to my wife.

Four. But also, to my wife. Four. But also, we can play three and leave. We can play three, have a Guinness and go home. I like this new style of golf. Say yes to playing golf and letting me drive the Countach. One, two, three. No. Yes. He said yes. You heard it. What I will do is I will

extend an invite to you for a podcast that won't be filmed or recorded. Okay. In the Batcave. Done. Which is I'll serve scotch instead of whiskey. And we'll talk about life and philosophy and cars and all that. You're making me get blushy, John.

And here's what I want to say about you. Yeah. In an industry where... It'll not be a fucking compliment. If it is, I'm going to be... It is. So, sorry. I'll cut this about you. In an industry where... It would not be a fucking compliment if it is. It is, so sorry. Cut this, Joe. Cut all this stuff. It's fine. You can cut it if you want. In an industry that's very transactional

and it's very difficult to find people who are willing to let their guard down because entertainers have a hard shell of like, what does this person want to gain from me? I admire the fact that we could sit on set in an office and talk about life. Yeah, we did. Talk about real things about life.

It is what I enjoy the most. And those moments make me, like, that's our friendship. It is not us doing good work together. Because as professionals, that is our job. And we can form a bond over that. Man, this time was fun. But just like two guys talking about sports, if sports is all they ever talk about, they got to have that.

And if they don't have it, their relationship isn't there. And I really applaud you because i know how difficult it is because i see a lot of performers not able to to climb that hill of like letting anybody even remotely in we'll talk about hip-hop we'll talk about sports we'll talk about what you watched and how you felt about it we'll talk about critiques of people's performance all day long right because that doesn't put my heart out there. Right. But life and pain and relationships and all that stuff is real. I'm like, hey, man, I had a hard time doing this. Yeah.

I feel you because I've had a hard time doing this. Right. And it's that little give and take where you get to know someone for who they are and not like you're giving me ammo to use against you and you're hoping that I'm not going to. And I'm doing the same thing with you. And for that, I thank you. And that's why I wanted to make sure we got this done. Because I know we would talk about, like, and thank you for being so grateful to talk about career path and all this wonderful stuff that's going on.

I live a dream every day and there's not a day that I don't, that I'm not aware of, even my grumpiest of moments. But I consider you a friend because I've had a chance to talk to Peter like that, because I've had a chance to talk to you like that. I had a chance to talk to a mutual friend of ours, PJ, like that. It goes beyond the work. This is a summer camp business.

You get stuck with eight weeks, a couple months, you become best friends and never see each other again. Yeah. But if you do have those moments, it allows you through long absences to catch up and it feels like it's just yesterday or you stay in touch. And I think that's super cool, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you. Please don't block my number. Never. Never. I don't block anybody's number. As soon as I leave. And I don't change my phone number. I've had the same number since 2004. We'll put the number up right here.

This is the number right here. Yeah. And everybody text that number right there. I want to thank you so graciously. 6801. I want to thank you graciously. I love you so dearly. This means a lot to me.

I wish we could talk for 80 hours, but we'll do that in private because that's way more fun. We end the episode the same way. You look into your camera right there, and you say one word or one phrase. It used to be a word, but some people were like, I don't really know what the one word is going to be. So I'll say something. So one word or one phrase is going to end the episode. This will be in the Smithsonian someday. I always say that all one word or one phrase is at the end of Whiskey Ginger in that camera when you're ready. No big pressure, but one word or one phrase to end the episode. camera when you're ready. No big pressure, but one word or one phrase to end the episode.

Sure. I'll get there. Thank you, Andrew Santino, for having me on Whiskey Ginger. I don't know what we enjoyed, but it was pleasant. Delicious. This is John Cena encouraging everyone out there to earn the day. In here, we pour whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no.

This whiskey is excellent. Ginger. I like gingers.